Suddenly there was blue. A sky patched with a few ivory clouds gave way to verdant hills and cerulean waters. In the distance, one could make out the faint outline of the skyline; down below, the world was lost in a forever blue abyss. The sound of zippers and the click of pens – passports and immigration cards emerged as the plane began its downward arc. The late afternoon sun was blinding as China Eastern 503 from Shanghai-PuDong touched down on the runway – farewell, China. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at Chek Lap Kok International Airport. Welcome to Hong Kong.”

Hanging under the belly of the People’s Republic in the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong is an unusual place. Officially referred to as a Special Administrative Region (SAR), it is de jure part of China but in reality, it is far from such. Hong Kong has a Beijing-appointed governor, but its citizens enjoy a wide array of freedoms and civil liberties not found on the mainland. Hong Kong is among the freest capitalist economies on the planet, a far cry from even the not-really-Communist-anymore guys up north. It has a partially democratically-elected legislature (with a fully democratic one being phased in over the next several years), maintains an international border between itself and China, can join world bodies independent of its overlord, mints its own currency, and has a separate immigration, visa, and customs regime. PRC citizens need a special permit to travel to the SAR and it was not until 2004 that PRC citizens could visit the city without a government-organized group.

Hong Kong is one of the most iconic and well-known cities in the world. Traditional Chinese junk boats ply Victoria Harbour alongside ferries as supertankers from the Gulf and cruise ships bound for Bangkok and Osaka lay idle in the distance. Cantonese, an odd sounding language related to Mandarin that also flies under the banner of “Chinese,” seems out of place spoken under signs for quays, carriageways, and WCs. The jewel in the British Empire’s East Asian crown, Hong Kong sits geographically on a peninsula physically part of the Chinese mainland as well as on a series of islands, most famously the aptly-named Hong Kong Island.

On the southernmost tip of Kowloon peninsula facing Hong Kong Island, the hectic Tsim Sha Tsui area is the embodiment of that vapid cliché “East meets West” but also of the entire SAR: Sheratons and herbalists, Guccis and Indian hawkers, Earl Grey and coconut water, and Sunday morning buffets and durian fruit stalls all coexist here. It’s artery, Nathan Road, is a never-ending flow of foreigners and developing-world migrants, each seeking something different in a city tinged with a drop of Asia.

After all, Hong Kong is as much Milan as it is Minsk.

After four amazing days in the Chinese capital Beijing, we left for Hong Kong via Shanghai. From the Tsim Sha Shui (TST) promenade facing south towards HK Island.

Obligatory pose

Mi madre

One of the last physical remnants of the Crown on the TST promenade

HK may not be my favorite place, but sunset produces one of the best views in the world

The HK version of Hollywood Boulevard; here is Jackie Chan's handprints.

Bruce Lee

Zoomed in on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island near the area called "North Point." So many Japanese companies!

Leaving the TST promenade at nightall, we head up Nathan Road, the main commercial artery of the district. Unlike Orchard Road in Singapore, Nathan is full of high-class Western stores as well as more traditional elements, from herbalists to durian vendors

Blurry, but you can sort of see the lasers on the top of the buildings

The next day, we took a massive walking tour of the central and western parts of HK Island. In the Admiralty district, I was getting juice made from...

...rambutans (the "hairy fruit")

Up narrow streets

We found our way to a traditional dim sum house. With signs only in Cantonese, we were the only Westerners there. As ladies like this come by, you pick the dim sum you want its recorded on a card.

View of the busy restaurant

Off to find the snake store

Two young people came in while we were taking pictures. The man grabbed a snake from the wire cage, cut with a knife, and then drained some blood into a white fluid. The people drank it like a shot - nothing like warm snake blood!

All kinds of birds' nests

I love signs

Ambling to the western coast of Hong Kong Island

Neat sign

Used in Chinee traditional medicine; also sighted in Beijing

The famous Cat Street, a narrow alley in the SW part of HK Island that sells all sorts of knick-knacks and gaudy Chinese stuff. Apparently selling on the street in front of the actual stores is illegal - the police officers make the stall owners "shut down" but really it's just a coded message for "wait till I'm gone."

Hanging ornaments on Cat Street

Nearby is the Man Mo Temple. Man Tai and Mo Tai were gods thought to bestow academic prowess and were worshipped by students.

Circular incense on the roof

Local art

Pressing sugar cane into a drink (had some in Korea - it's good!)

Bamboo scaffolding doesn't seem too safe...

The world's longest escalator transits people who live in the Mid-Levels but work further down the slope

Signs from the escalator

Bamboo

The Yuen Po Bird Market, a place where local traders come to buy and sell songbirds, a symbol of luck in Chinese traditionalism

Oops

Crickets for sale

For sale

Lots for sale - where do they go at night?

Durians are known for their putrid odor (they are banned on the Singapore MRT!) but after having one as a pancake in Kuala Lumpur, they actually are pretty good

Fish, also a lucky animal, for sale at the Lei Yu Mun Fish Market

The next day, we went to Hong Kong's largest island, Lantau, to take the cable car to the world's largest Buddha

The wait for the car

Going up

Glass bottom!

The view of the airport from the ride up

The entire ride took about 30 minutes

A sign pointing to world monuments upon arriving at the top

View of the Buddha

In front of one of many statues encircling Buddha

The sun actually came out

Buddha's birthday was a few days before, so lots of incense sticks lay on the stone stairs and around these heavy torches